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Friday, November 25, 2011

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Paula Wolfert is an acknowledged expert in the cooking of the Mediterranean, but when this Brooklyn girl first married she, quite literally, couldn't boil water. Frustrated with her cooking failures, she decided to take cooking classes at Dione Lucas's Cordon Bleu cooking school. It was love at first bite- forgive that please - and she left college to work in the school kitchen to offset the cost of her tuition. Her first husband's job took them to Morocco where she first became fascinated with the rich flavors and exotic ingredients of the area. It was here that she began began her life-long quest to find the best dishes the region had to offer. Her search took her from lowly Berber villages to Greece, Spain, Italy and the south of France. Her second husband, the novelist William Bayer, urged her to write her first cookbook. She did that, and went on to write eight more books that chronicle her adventures and the food she found in a precise, yet exuberant manner. Her books can all be found here. She has detractors who actually criticize her recipes for their authenticity and use hard-to-find ingredients. She refuses to bow or bend and insists on authentic taste in the dishes she prepares. Wolfert has a simple test that dishes to be used in her books must pass. She must want to eat them again. She views food as memory and wants dishes that have lingering flavors that will appeal to all the senses. Her future plans include a book on garlic and olive oil and perhaps one on the fruits and vegetables of the Mediterranean. You understand, of course, that would require her to explore still more villages in search of another great cook or undiscovered secret. I suspect she already has her bag packed. I have chosen a very simple recipe to showcase her work. It is a carrot salad that is perfectly spiced and it is a nice counterpoint to the heavy food we've been feasting on this holiday. Here's the recipe.

Directions:1) Wash and peel carrots. Boil whole in water with garlic clove until barley tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Discard garlic. Let carrots cool, then slice or dice and place in a large bowl.2) Combine spices, lemon juice, sugar and salt. Pour over carrots. Toss to combine.3) Chill. Toss again before serving and top with a drizzle of olive oil and chopped parsley. Yield:4 to 6 servings.

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Paula Wolfert today. I hope you'll visit all of them. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, November 28th.

Lovely write up on Paula Wolfert - I do like her authenticity, staying true to the flavors of the countries she is writing about. And I like her rule that she must want to eat the dishes that are in her cookbooks again to be included. I like the simplicity of the recipe you chose.

I do indeed love how these are spiced and will be doing it. I so enjoy all these posts and discoveries - more fun now that I am less familiar with these chefs - the top 20 were all known to me. Hope your Thanksgiving was laden with grace.

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